Comfortable flats softly pattered down the length of the Library's hall, the first few rays of the morning sun were still fighting to climb their way over the city's monoliths of steel and glass. Alongside her another set of feet followed, bare and callous there was the occasional sound of talons scraping at the edges of the short, dense carpeting. The one who owned the flats, a librarian who looked more owl than human.

"You said you two were looking for maps? She asked, her large golden eyes turning to look at the two, ah 'people', that decided to ask for her help. The stink of rot that rolled off them both ruffled her feathers, though she was trying her best to keep her plumage kept.

"Yesss, misss. We are looking for mapsss of the Outer Dissstrict. You have a ssselection, correct?" Mortis hissed, his recently acquired hat in hand. His dark overcoat hung loosely off his shoulders, revealing the dark leathers and morbid belt that he wore underneath.

Thankfully most of the city's information was located near the front of the building and before long the librarian had brought them over to a towering row of what looked like filing cabinets. She came to a stop next to a row of the cabinets, trailing her finger down the labels as she muttered under her breath. It sounded as if she were remembering the exact place the map were kept under. She paused on one of them and pulled it open, revealing numerous files labeled alphabetically "The maps of the city are here, the Outer District should be filed under... "O"." The Librarian explained, rifling through them and spreading open one of the manila folders. Within were... more folders, each labeled by year.

Mortis turned his gaze to look at the librarian, pointing to the files with a talon. "Doesss it truly change ssso often?" He asked, mildly surprised that there was a new map for every year, from the beginning to the present year.

"Not always, but this world is very... eventful, I suppose that since so many crises befall this world so often, it pays to keep a steady record." She replied, opening the folder that had a neat "6" written upon the labeling tab in pen. "You two want a map from the current year, right?"

"Yesss, pleassse." The undead nodded, "Thisss record encompasssesss all of the Outer Dissstrict, correct?" Mortis rasped, turning his attention back to the files as the librarian pulled out the requested maps.

"Yes. Speaking of that, is there any particular place you're looking for? We have comprehensive address books of every location... Er, still standing or otherwise." She offered, looking expectantly to both of the undeads that followed her. At this point Mortis turned to look at his brother, a thoughtful hum resonating in the hollow of his ribcage.

"A worthwhile quessstion, sshall we look through the addresss booksss asss well, Fear?" He inquired, tapping a talon upon the stiff brim of his hat.

"..." Oh, right... Fear was not with him for this trip. The ghoul turned back to look at the librarian, who seemed perplexed as to why the sheep-skulled undead was talking to thin air. A feathery eyebrow raised and Mortis gave a low hiss. "It isss a force of habit." He hissed quickly, before answering his own question. "After thinking further however... I would like the addresss book for the dissstrict asss well." He indicated in her direction with a rotted talon, to which she leaned away. Thankfully she did not think to comment on his earlier attempt to converse with nothing.

"Yes, I'll go and find the address book, it should be around here..." She uttered, none too amused about having a yellowed, nasty claw put in her face. Her feathers fluffed once more, and she went back to retrieving the current maps of the Outer District for this odd visitor. The document was placed in among a few others, likely more sections of the large, impoverished area of the city. Mortis took them as they were offered, looking through the laminated spreads thoughtfully as the librarian closed the cabinet. He knew the Outer District was large from experience, he had personally purged street after street of life during his two years of working. However, to look at it as a whole, to see how vast it was upon these different maps... Mortis quickly realized it would take more than a few days to find what they were looking for if they had decided to attempt to find it without research first. Certainly, he could finish their research within a day, a few of them at the most. Of their group he had seen himself as one of the more studious, and focus upon gathering information came easily. But there was something to be said about how different matters became when applied in the field and not upon paper.

”The address books are this way. Although I must warn you they’re not labeled by district, so it will take some looking around.” She stated, waking down the corridor and turning to another row of shelves a little ways down from the place that held the maps. A feathery finger brought itself to the tip of her curved beak as she looked up at the rows of books. “Hm... It should be here. Ah, there we are.” She reached up to a higher shelf and pulled out a thick tome, in fact it looked a lot like a-- ”The city phonebook. These update every year, so everything in this edition should be current.”

Should, because anyone who lived in this world knew that anything that lasted for more than a year was incredibly lucky or just resilient.

”Thank you, missss.” Mortis hissed politely, taking the book as well when offered. ”I think that ssshall be all for today, thank you for your help.” He added, tucking his hat into the confines of his overcoat before placing the book in his free hand.

-------

Time: 9:30 AM

The undead was a few hours into his research at this point, the sun had risen fully and now was pouring its vibrant light in through the windows. Though the ghoul tended to favor more gloomy places, the natural light admittedly made it easier to read the small print within the phone book he was presented with.Maps were spread out upon the desk he had found, the address book situated right next to him with another, small book open next to it as well. It was a small leatherbound book, its pages blank but perfect for anyone who wished to record observations in the wilderness. Currently however, the undead was busy jotting down addresses and directions.

EXE Avenue, 3rd SSD drive, Jacquard road... They all had a few promising locations. A few of them were old mortuaries, but one of them looked to be a hospital with a morgue built into it. Admittedly the last one was very tempting to explore first, a hospital would not only have the equipment for their reincarnation process, but likely a few extra resources for them to take advantage of. Ah, but he refrained from circling it as a priority location just yet, he wanted to find some place that was close to a chemicals distributer. It would make things easier if they had necessary resources close at hand.

He jotted down each of the locations diligently, until he had a cohesive list of addresses for him and his brother to look into. Next would be to look into a few blueprints of each chosen destination, which he set to after closing the small journal and tucking it back into the confines of his jacket. He had found ten promising locations in total within a few hours, not exactly a completely satisfying turnout, but it was a place to start for their search.

Clawed feet made their way back up to the front, where there was another librarian, this time far more human than the owl-lady who had helped him earlier. The young man, looked up from where he was collecting books from a dolly of returns, dark eyes framed with a set of reading lenses. His expression paled for a moment at the visitor’s appearance, noticeably unaccustomed to having a patron with a sheep’s skull grinning at him, on top of being so freakishly tall. ”C-can I help you?” He stuttered, standing upright.

Ah, that explained it, upon the young man’s chest was a trainee nametag. Likely he had not seen much outside of the usual diversity of this place... Which did not tend to be the undead. Those apparently stayed out in the crypts and graveyards, according to his thoughts.

”Yessss, I am looking for blueprintsss.” He hissed, withdrawing the journal from within the confines of his jacket. Flipping open to the first page he offered it to the trainee librarian to read. ”Would you have the plansss for thessse locationsss?”

"O-oh, plans?” He parroted, adjusting his glasses as he looked over the writing. Huh, for a dead guy he certainly had some nice penmanship...

”Thankssss.” Mortis hissed, earning a confused look from the employee. ”It isss not often I get complimentsss on my writing.” He tilted his skeletal head, watching as the cogs started to turn in the young man’s head.

He- he could read my thoughts?

Yep, getting warmer.

That must mean he’s a--?Closer.

”So y-you’re a psychic huh?” He finally deduced, earning a small nod from the towering, rotten patron. ”Yeah, that’s... cool, I guess. I don’t know this place that well yet, but I know someone who can help you with the blueprints. I’ll bring them over.” Just like that, the librarian in training went off to find someone more qualified, leaving the superfiend to wait.

Seconds ticked by to minutes, and before too long...

”Did you,””Ask for us?”"Yes, he looks like the one."

Three creatures were the owners of the combined monotone, their voices sounding artificial compared to the usual staff who busied themselves around the library. They were short creatures that only came up to Mortis’ knees, and decidedly not organic. Plating covered the majority of their stout bodies, resembling silicone chips in their color and glossy appearance. However, where their limbs would be were arcs of plasma, each respectively a different color. Interestingly enough, they did not seem to burn the fabric of their library uniforms despite the obvious energy that coursed through them. Upon each of their chests was not a name, but a letter. An ‘R’, an ‘A’, and an ‘M’ were the only semblance of a designation upon their persons.

”Yesss, I wasss wondering if you would have blueprintsss of thesse buildingsss.” He brought the journal back out once again and stooped down so the group could see what he had written. Their digital eyes skimmed over the writing, thoughtful electrical hums shared between the trio.

”Oh yes, we can certainly find these.” Said M with a stiff nod.

”With great ease.” Agreed R with an equally stiff nod of their own. The only one who had not said anything was A, who seemed to squint a little as they looked over the locations. R and M looked over at the middle of their trio, both clearing their throat expectantly and R giving them a tap on the shoulder.

”I am curious as to why--?” They started, before being cut off by M.

”Bah, curiosity. You can sit and ponder all you like later, we need to get moving.” They interjected, placing their plasma-based hands upon their hips. R stood akimbo, nodding in agreement with M, ”Yes, the patron wants us to find something for them, and find it we will.”

The one called A, glanced between his cohorts and the journal opened in front of them, giving a pensive hum before hesitantly nodding. ”Yes, we should find the blueprints. Let us not delay any further.”

All the while, Mortis tilted his head thoughtfully as he listened to the exchange, finding it to be oddly familiar. Granted, these two were nothing like Fire and Fear, but their group dynamic certainly was similar to a few exchanges of their own while they were attempting to purge the Mega City. He gave a small sigh, the one known as A had his sympathies, although the less said about why he needed those blueprints, the better off he would be.

The undead was shaken from his thoughts however when the trio did not simply walk away, but instead tore off with a Zipp! Zapp! Zoom! and a spark of static. Mortis looked around, pocketing his journal again as he waited, the trainee catching his eye as he too seemed to look at where they last stood with a sot of awe of his own.

”They sure... ah, get around, don’t they?” He commented with a nervous chuckle, a slender hand coming to rest against the tan skin of his neck.

”Indeed.” He rasped, barely able to finish his thought before there was another snap of electricity. This time it was his turn to jolt, Mortis’ bony tail snapping out straight behind him in surprise. These three really did get around, how many minutes had it been since they went off to find the plans?

Once again, the three were in front of him, with A holding a few cylindrical cases in their arms.

”These were,””What we could,””Find.”

Of the ten addresses he had given, the trio offered up four tubes of blueprints. Well, that certainly narrowed down his search... Likely the rest of blueprints could not be found or simply were not available for the public to look through. ”My thanksss.” He hissed with a small nod, stooping down and taking the tubes from A.

"You’re welcome!”"You’re welcome!""You’re welcome!”

They buzzed and grinned in unison, before turning and walking back to what they had been doing before being called over. Mortis as well turned and headed back to his desk, the ghoul’s long limbs making the trip that much shorter thanks to equally long strides.

-----

Time: 12:30 PM

Pouring over the blueprints took longer than the undead had initially thought. Unfortunately the hospital was not up for review, likely because of the building that it was, but there were plenty of other very promising locations. He could get the plans for the less available buildings later from another source. Mortuaries and funeral homes were laid out before him, and the undead took a moment to diligently study them all, taking note of different corridors and rooms. Places that could house bodies or chemicals, and perhaps enemies if he were to explore the interiors.

For a moment he thought of it like old times, before he had been turned undead, before all of this nonsense with Sidney and ridding the world of life. It felt... good, to go back to simple research and rely on documentation instead of psychic prowess to get the job done for once. Granted their abilities were a boon when it came to sniffing out the iniquitous and finding their way around, but unaided diligence and work ethic had its own perks as well.

Four locations were looked over and four places were noted within his journal, the others that he was unable to find a blueprint for he crossed out, except for the hospital which he circled. There were means for getting information that was not available to the public, it would take some extra work, but it would be worth it. He added the last details that he needed to end his time at the library with a few more strokes of a ballpoint pen, and then he closed the journal and secured it shut with the leather strap that wound about its exterior. The journal was placed within the interior pocket of his overcoat and he pushed the chair away to stand, before gathering his research materials. It would not do to simply leave them lying about in the open, and he supposed that it would make the staff’s job easier to bring it to them instead of having to walk all the way out to where he had decided to sit and stumble upon the pile of materials themselves.

Up at the desk, the owl-lady he had seen earlier in the morning was busy organizing paperwork, likely returns and check-outs, along with the occasional overdue notice. She looked up as he approached, long before he even drew near the desk her feathers ruffled at the odor his host gave off. ”Oh, hello again!” She looked over the books and blueprints and maps that were neatly stacked in his arms with large yellow eyes. ”I’m afraid you can’t check those out. It’s our policy.” She stated, to which Mortis gave a shake of his head.

”Oh, no. I came to return thessse to you. They have been very helpful with my ressearch.” he rasped, setting the small pile of paperwork and the phone book on the desk.

”Oh, I see. Have you found everything you were looking for?” She looked over at the pile before standing and moving it onto the returns dolly to be replaced with the rest of the books. The sheep-skulled patron gave a small nod. ”Yesss, I wass able to find everything. Thank you.” He rasped, stepping away from the desk rigidly. Sitting around and reading for hours on end did not help the rigor that tended to settle in his joints by any means.

”Good, have a nice day then. We thank you for your patronage.” She gave a contented hoot and returned to her work, leaving the towering undead to make his exit and move onto the next step of his search.

”Yesss, I ssshall.” He rasped quietly, and stepped out into the bustling metropolis.